


Motorcycles are More Fun than they Look

by AttentionDeficitDumbass



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: 1990s, Best Friends, Dorks in Love, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Eddie breaks the rules, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gay, Headcanon, High School, M/M, Motorcycles, Not Beta Read, Oblivious, Out of Character, Pet Names, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie and Eddie are Best Friends, Richie builds a motorcyle, Richie has a motorcyle, Richie likes cars, Slightly - Freeform, Soft Richie Tozier, Teenage Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Teenage Losers Club (IT), Teenage Rebellion, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and bikes, for once, it's a mix of book lore and movie lore, motorcycle, well rebuilds it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 18:42:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttentionDeficitDumbass/pseuds/AttentionDeficitDumbass
Summary: Richie has been saving up for a motorcycle forever, so when he buys an old rusted bike he's thrilled. He fixes it up, and of course Eddie is the first one to see the final product of his hard work. Eddie isn't a fan, at least until he actually gets on the bike.The title sucks I'm aware, it's worth the read I promise.





	Motorcycles are More Fun than they Look

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd. Good luck deciphering

Eddie knew Richie had bought a motorcycle. Everybody knew, he showed off that rusted piece of shit like it was a shiny new Harley Sportster, the existence of which Eddie was only aware of because Richie loved them, thought they were the most amazing vehicle to ever exist. In fact he rarely shut up about them now. The motorcycle Richie had bought was old, rusted and practically falling apart. The model was apparently an old one from 1969, a little over twenty years old. Richie blabbered on about it nonstop, so proud of the old bike that his dad said was a ‘Phoenix Scrambler’, ‘Firebird something’? Eddie couldn’t remember. It was a giant monster of a bike, much of the body rusting off. He’d bought it off a farmer for $75, the bike had been sitting in a field of overgrown weeds, rusting away under rain and sun. Apparently while they were bringing it into his dad’s garage, huge pieces had fallen off. And Eddie didn’t doubt him. When he saw the bike he didn’t think he’d manage to fix the damn thing. It took nearly two years of replacing, repainting, and rebuilding to get it to look good again. All of them had helped, though Ben and Mike had done the most. Mike had fixed up several trucks with his dad before, so he was familiar with engines, and Ben seemed to have a natural talent for fixing things, and building stuff. Bill and Bev had helped a bunch too, Bev seeming eager to help. Eddie hadn’t done much himself he’d admit. He wasn’t a car person, let alone motorcycle. He didn’t think they were safe. But he did help strip the paint, which had faded and rusted far from its original bright cherry to a more grey and dull shade of pink.

Richie hadn’t let anybody see the bike for the past two months. Ben and Mike had been the ones to last see it, and all they’d said was that it looked like a decent bike again. Eddie had no idea what that would even remotely mean, but whatever. It didn’t really matter to him, since he was never going to bother with it. Mike had a beat up truck they would ride in sometimes, but even still everything in Derry was within walking distance. He had his license but he never used it. Or rather his mother wouldn’t let him. Sonia was very clear on the fact he wasn’t allowed to use the car, and he still wasn’t allowed to be out for very long. He’d started to lie to her, telling her he took his medication when he hadn’t been. Nothing had happened. And he’d stopped needing his inhaler nearly as much. Sometimes he felt the sensation of being suffocated again, but he tried to not use the aspirator. He hated the damn thing, ever since he’d figured out what his mom had been doing. Still he wasn’t allowed to join the track team, or do things his friends had been allowed to. But he found ways to sneak around the rules. It was always worth getting in trouble for.

And so was this.

Richie had called him ten minutes prior, and Eddie could practically hear his grin plastered across his face. The smile he knew well. They’d become a lot closer in the past several years, and they hung out with each other most often. They spent a lot of time in the Barrens, avoiding suspicious eyes, angry glares, whispering voices, and worst of all, the yelling. The name calling. Eddie had heard the word faggot levelled at them so many times he barely even remembered a time when it hurt. He didn’t care, he still liked Richie. He rarely questioned him and why he wanted to hang out, but this time he could tell something was up when he’d told him to be outside in five minutes.

“Why?”

“Aw come on Eds, just do it,” Richie had said, his voice still cheerful. He was excited, Eddie could tell. Plus he could hear the shuffling of him continuously moving around, probably hopping from foot to foot.

“Don’t call me that, I will if you tell me why,” Eddie replied, the response to the nickname he’d been given forever ago automatically.

“It’s a surprise. Please, I promise. If you go along with it I owe you one okay?” he said.

“You’re buying me lunch on Monday then,”

“Tuesday too if you promise to go along with it!” Richie added. That made Eddie nervous now. Why would he offer more than he was asking?

“...Okay”

“Perfect, see you in five!” Richie said, hanging up quickly, as Eddie frowned. It had to be something big if he was that persistent. None of them really bought lunch much, it got expensive. It was weird he’d cough up more money than he needed to. Something was fishy, and Eddie didn’t trust it. And yet, he still got ready, slipping outside before he could change his mind. He made himself consider it might be something good.

That is until Richie pulled up to the curb outside his house, on his prized motorcycle. Suddenly Eddie was really glad his mom was working, because the motorcycle rumbling beside the sidewalk was loud. It was admittedly gorgeous, paint a beautiful wine red, exposed pipes and metal polished to a blindingly bright silver that shone like a brand new nickel in the sun. It was incredible. It looked ten times better than he’d expected it to. And to top it off, was Richie. He’d pulled off his helmet, grinning at him, decked out in a baggy leather jacket with an off centre zipper. And admittedly it was a good look. A really good look. The curly hair and stupid glasses somehow still working extremely well with the leather and jeans.

Eddie was too busy staring at Richie to notice the extra jacket and helmet he’d grabbed from a bag on the back, until he shut off the bike, parking it, and walked towards him, the items held out to him.

“Absolutely not.” Eddie said immediately, looking between the protective gear and the bike. “I am not getting on that fucking deathtrap, especially not with you driving, Bill maybe, but definitely not you,” he said, taking a step back.

“Aw come on Eds, please? Two lunches in exchange for a ride around town on this baby?” Richie asked, shoving the jacket towards Eddie insistently, that stupid smile on his face.

“No. You’re an idiot if you think I’m getting near that piece of junk,”

“Don’t talk about her like that! Bev is lovely!” He said, exaggerating the hurt look on his face.

“Bev? You named it Bev?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah, Beverly said that people name their bikes, and I should name mine, so I named it after her, since y’know...red” He said, shrugging.

“That doesn’t make me trust it more!” He protested, staring at Richie.

“Please? I’ll take you anywhere, you’ll love it, promise! I want you to be the first to experience this beauty” Richie pleaded, using the goddamn puppy eyes. They always worked on Eddie, and this time was no exception. Eddie snatched the jacket and helmet from him, glaring at him as he tugged on the jacket, zipping it up and pulling on the helmet. The fit of the jacket was even more baggy on him, his small frame swallowed by the thick fabric. He had to push up the sleeves so he could use his hands.

“That’s adorable,” Richie snorted, laughing a little, seeing his small and somehow very angry friend draped in the fabric.

“I hate you,” Eddie muttered, voice muffled by the helmet as he stomped his way to the bike.

“Love you too,” Richie replied, grinning as he jogged over, pulling his helmet on and helping Eddie onto the bike, before sitting in front of him. “Okay, hold on to me,” he said, starting up the bike and revving the engine loudly. He wasn’t about to say he enjoyed the immense fear coming from Eddie, but he did have to admit the yelp and the way Eddie wrapped his arms around his waist tightly was kind of adorable. It was nice. Not that he’d say that out loud. “You good?” he asked, turning to look at Eddie as he pulled his helmet on.

“As good as I can be on this damn thing,” Eddie muttered, holding on tighter to Richie. He swore under his breath as he felt Richie walk it towards the centre of the street, squeezing his eyes shut. He felt a moment that felt like falling before he realized that they were driving. The bike wasn’t speeding through the streets he learned when he opened his eyes. Richie was making sure to keep it slow enough that Eddie wouldn’t have a total heart attack right away. It was a nice gesture. The feeling was actually somewhat close to riding double on Bill’s bike Silver, like they had done as kids. Except somehow safer. There was no wobbling slow start, just one split second of trying to balance before the bike evened out, instead of several long agonizing moments before the bike finally steadied and got going. It was nice. Eddie kind of enjoy it actually, watching the houses and cars go by. When he relaxed the tight grip on Richie, they slowly started to speed up, and at the end of the third block, Richie turned so they could drive around the outside of town.

Eddie figured out very quickly he did not like turning. In fact he hated it. He yelped as the bike dipped, and it felt like it would slip out from underneath them. He tightened his grip on Richie’s waist again, closing his eyes and waiting for the impact of asphalt and leather, but it never came. The bike just straightened out once more and it was okay again. Eddie opened his eyes, but didn’t loosen his grip much. He shifted closer to Richie, not even caring how it looked. He clung to him, pressed against his back, and looked around, watching the scenery whiz by more quickly. He realized very quickly that they were going to go around the town, passing the Barrens. He smiled a bit, sitting up a little more and enjoying the ride more and more.

Derry was oddly beautiful when it was whizzing by, buildings blurring into one another as they passed by quickly. He saw the ice cream shop, the movie theatre, the police station. It all just passed by and melted away like it was nothing, like all that mattered was the bike beneath him and Richie in front of him. He gently squeezed him a bit tighter, but not in a gesture of sheer panic and terror. Closer to a hug. He couldn’t see it, but Richie was smiling ear to ear, face burning as he blushed bright red. He knew Eddie well, he’d been surprised he’d gotten on the bike, but was even more surprised and thrilled with the affectionate gesture. He slowed and stopped at the light, smiling to himself, thinking. When the light turned green, he revved the bike a little, before letting the bike go, speeding up. They turned, Eddie yelping and clinging tightly to Richie, Richie not even minding the way his ribs creaked a little under the surprisingly strong grip. The Barrens flew by, the sound of the water rushing far down below blending into the noise of the wind rushing by.

Richie slowed down as they reached the edge of town, stopping by the town’s sign with old rotting wood and peeling paint just outside town, facing the highway. Richie tugged off his helmet, flipping down the kickstand and looking back at Eddie with a grin. Eddie pulled his own helmet off with a frown. Richie’s face fell when he saw the frown, until Eddie spoke.

“Why’d we stop?” he protested, whining and pouting.

“We reached the edge of town spaghetti, what you like Bev all of a sudden?” he asked, patting the red body of the bike proudly.

“Beep beep Richie,” Eddie said with an exaggerated eye roll and playful punch to his arm. He was smiling though, looking brighter and more alive than Richie had seen him in weeks. He was so… beautiful like that. That’s the only way he could describe it. Not in the same way Beverly was beautiful. Nor the same way the birds Stan had pictures of were. It was hard to explain. But they way his eyes shone brightly, full of life and excitement, the way his hair stuck up in ways that shouldn’t have been possible with gravity, the way his cheeks were flushed slightly red. It was all beautiful.

“So you like it?” he asked again, trying to keep the blush on his face from going nuts as he straightened his glasses.

“Yes, I didn’t know it’d be so fun! Do we have to stop though?” Eddie asked, looking at him hopefully.

“Well I have nowhere to be… where you wanna go?” Richie asked, willpower immediately crumbling under that look on Eddie’s face. 

“Nowhere, anywhere, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said, looking at him, knowing he’d get what he wanted. Richie tugged his helmet back on, Eddie following suit with a grin and a cheer. Richie kicked up the kickstand and started the bike, driving down the highway towards Bangor. The ride was exhilarating, and they both felt like they were on top of the world, though for very different reasons.

They ended up spending a few hours in Bangor, getting lunch and driving around aimlessly. Eddie paid for lunch, and after driving around a bit, they stopped off in a park, goofing off for a while, and playing around on an empty playground. Time slipped away until sunset, neither noticing that it was getting so late until the sunlight had turned orange. Eddie knew he was fucked, but he found himself somehow not caring. Normally he would’ve made a beeline home, not wanting to get in trouble, or having his mom keep him locked up for weeks on end. But the slice of freedom he’d gotten that day was worth it all to him. He didn’t want it to end. So they stayed, even after Richie suggested they go home before Eddie had his face on tomorrow’s newspaper and milk carton. They stayed until the sky had turned red, the last bit of sun illuminating the road as they finally drove out of Bangor. By the time they had almost reached Derry, the sun had set entirely. When they paused at an intersection of dirt roads, having taken the backroads home since they were quieter, Eddie pulled off his helmet and put it in the bag settled on the hip of the bike. Richie looked at him and even through the helmet Eddie could feel the look Richie was giving him.

“Turn left, stop when I tap your shoulder twice,” he said simply, still grinning. Richie just shrugged and nodded, doing as he said. Eddie held onto Richie’s waist and laughed, grinning as the wind whipped his hair around wildly, closing his eyes and feeling the cold air against his face. He looked beside them at fields of corn passing, and then soon the corn gave way to oat fields. Eddie found what he was looking for and tapped Richie’s shoulder twice, waiting for him to stop before getting off and practically bouncing up and down as he waited for Richie to follow him. He grabbed his hand and pulled him to the barbed wire fence, walking along it until he found the opening. He ducked under the fence, not noticing as his legs scraped against the sharp wire, ripping his pants legs a bit.

Richie followed along, confused but happy to go along with it. They’d been having fun, and Richie was confused by but also happy to see Eddie like this. It’d been a while since Eddie took risks like this, since he’d said fuck it to just enjoy the day. They walked through corn stalks until Eddie found the opening. It was a spot where there had been a truck or something, and therefore a small clearing. Eddie laid down, smiling and pulling Richie down with him, still holding his hand and smiling. He pointed at the sky with his free hand, grinning at Richie quickly to make sure he had his attention before looking at the sky, which was now a deep indigo and full of stars shining brightly. The moon was half full and illuminated the sky. Eddie pointed from the moon down to the north star, narrating everything he pointed at, showing several constellations. The only one Richie really saw was the big dipper when he pointed it out, but Eddie was just so happy and excited whenever he thought Richie saw them too that he just said he did.

Eventually, they both turned, facing one another, smiling softly. Eddie looked a bit sleepy, but he denied it consistently. Even as his eyes were falling shut.

“Thank you for driving me around all day,” he said softly, yawning quietly.

“No problem, it was fun,”

“She’s beautiful by the way, you did an amazing job.” Eddie said. He smiled at Richie as he saw the other blush slightly under the pale moonlight. Their eyes met and for a moment the world melted away, blurring together into nothing. They just stared at one another for a while. Richie just took in the features of Eddie’s face, Eddie doing the same. Until Eddie moved closer, and so did Richie. It wasn’t really a decision on either of their parts. It just happened, they just kissed. For whatever reason it didn’t feel awkward afterwards.

They laid there a while longer before Richie finally took Eddie home. Eddie got in deep shit for staying out so long, but he didn’t care, it was worth it. It was amazing, he didn’t regret it. Though he did wish he could go out again soon. He wanted to do it all over again, and he wasn’t alone. Sure enough the day Eddie was finally let out again, there was Richie, waiting with an extra helmet and jacket on his bike.


End file.
